Daily Routines
by alicemorganss
Summary: This is sort of a prequel to the episode "In the Light." Joan/Arthur with a short appearance by Annie.


A/N: These characters are not mine. I am only borrowing them for a short amount of time :)

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Watching the steel barrier go up and the wooden post come down, he slowly stopped the car in front of the guard station.

Rolling down the window he felt his passenger tap his forearm with the access badge. As he handed both of their access badges to the guard, he noticed his passenger looking out her side mirror, watching another guard search with the mirror under their car.

The guard handed back their badges and the gate and barrier were lowered.

"Have a good day sir, ma'am," the guard said as he rolled up his window, he nodded his thanks to the guard.

He watched as she put her badge back in her purse, while he slid his into his pocket, waiting until they got inside the building to put it on.

Driving into the parking lot he noted there were a lot more cars here than usual for this early hour in the morning.

He maneuvered the car carefully into the parking spot in front of him. As he put the car in park and turned it off, he glanced to the passenger seat beside him.

She was looking outside the window again, her dark, oversized shades hiding her eyes as she carefully assessed the situation.

She turned in her seat towards him, smiling slightly at him. Moving one hand to the door handle, he put one of his hands on the arm closest to him.

Her slight smile turned into a slight frown as he quickly got out of the car.

He moved around to her side of the car and opened her door for her. He watched as her as she slightly maneuvered herself around so she didn't become indecent getting out of the car in her red dress.

"Thank you," she said as she slid out of the car, grabbing her purse and his briefcase, and came to her full height beside him, "but that wasn't necessary."

"I know" he smiled at her, taking his briefcase from her hands and shutting the door behind her, "but I felt like it."

She shook her head and started walking away towards the side entrance of headquarters, her heels clicking on the pavement.

He caught up to her easily, and they continued to walk together towards the entrance. As they stepped onto the sidewalk she was digging through her purse, searching blindly for her access badge.

"I've got this," he said, easily sliding his card through the reader and entering his password into the panel below.

He held the door open for her as she walked into the hallway, pausing briefly to wait for him.

She smirked to herself as she took off her sunglasses and held them in her hand.

"What's the smirk for" he questioned as he stepped beside her and they walked in sync down the long hallway towards their offices.

"I told Annie on the first day the men around here will hold open doors, call you ma'am, and they'll know how to fix a tire. You are just reaffirming my statement."

He quickly glanced at her and found she was looking straight ahead. He smirked at her.

"Only you would say that to a green agent on her first day" he told her, turning his head back to look straight ahead.

"I was just preparing her for what she was getting into. The boys club isn't easy to navigate," she told him as she stopped at the doorway.

He stopped as well, noticing the slight turn of events in his plans. They had reached his office first.

"I can think of no better person to teach her the tricks of our trade," he said honestly.

"You are biased," she told him with a smile.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled back at her.

"Lunch" he asked as he unlocked his door.

She shrugged her shoulder as if passing up his offer. He pushed open his door and motioned for her to enter.

"What's on the schedule for today" he asked as he set his briefcase on his desk, leaning on the front of it as she sat down in one of the visitor's chairs.

"Meetings, briefings, the usual," she said, "what about you?"

"Same, mine are out of the office most of the day" he told her, "So I'll leave this place in your hands and let you be in charge of saving the nation."

She shook her head at him slightly and turned slightly in the chair when a knock sounded at his door.

Annie walked in the office after hearing the go ahead. She saw her boss and her boss' boss sitting with each other.

"I'm in charge of the coffee runs, I was told you like a double latte, and you like black coffee" she said, handing the latte to Joan and the coffee to Arthur.

"Thank you Annie," Joan said, Arthur nodded his sentiment.

Annie nodded her head and backed out the door, carrying the other trays of coffee along with her.

"It's still hot" Joan said, taking a sip from her latte.

"Of course it is, you and I both have the power to fire her," Arthur told her.

Joan shook her head and smiled into the to-go cup.

"I suppose I'm off, meeting in 15 minutes," she told him, standing up along with her purse and latte.

He stood up straight and walked her towards his door, opening the door slowly.

Blocking her path out, he asked her again "lunch?"

She squeezed past, their bodies brushing slightly against one another. She moved away from the doorway only a smirk on her face.

Turning back slightly, she saw he was still in his doorway, waiting for her answer to his question he asked.

"If you're lucky," she told him, watching as he nodded and then ducked into his office.

She turned the corner and smiled to herself, taking a sip of her latte to hide the smile as she walked passed the few of her agents that were in the DPD this early in the morning.


End file.
